Hello, I am huge in to DIY and I keep coming across Arduino powered diy projects. I can never tell if this is something I can handle or not. Im pretty tech savvy and I took a few programming classes in high school but that was a while ago. My first project is to automate my chicken coop. If that works well then Im off to building an aquarium controller and then Home Automation.
Heres what I would like to build for the chicken coop.
automatic coop door (power a 5 volt drill to open and close door based on sun rise sun set.)
Turn heat lamp on based on temp in the coop
Turn fan on based on temp in coop
Turn a light on and off daily
Have a display with temperature of coop.
power indicator lights on out side of coop for the following:
-low water (float switch)
-Door Open (limit switch)
It seems pretty basic. How do i learn how to code all this stuff. Where do i begin to learn how to get this all up and going from a completely new perspective?
Ive done some googling but nothing really seems to walk a beginner how to code and what hardware to get unless you just want to turn an led on and off.
automatic coop door (power a 5 volt drill to open and close door based on sun rise sun set.)
You will need either a darlinton pair transistor or a relay to power the motor. Make sure you also use a separate power supply. You will also need to let the arduino know when sun rise and sun set is, so a RTC will be needed. You can also get the one that is shown in this library. DS1302 time library
Turn heat lamp on based on temp in the coop
Turn fan on based on temp in coop
This will of course need a temperature sensor and if you do a search for Arduino temperature sensor, you will find a lot on them and some code you can play with.
Turn a light on and off daily
This can go with the RTC used for detecting sun rise and sun set, you will just need to tell it to turn on and off at different intervals. Many RTC examples can be found with a quick search on the forum or google.
Have a display with temperature of coop.
You could get a small 16x2 LCD screen, which does have a library in the Arduino Playground/liquidCrystal. If you are low on usable pins, you may want to get a I2C 16x2 LCD instead.
power indicator lights on out side of coop for the following:
This is simple enough, but depending on the lights used, you may need transistors or a relay.
-low water (float switch)
-Door Open (limit switch)
These too should be very simple to do, and there may even be a water level sensor other than a float switch, that you can use.
Certainly possible, but you should approach it in stages. Get the RTC and door opening/closing working first, then add the other parts, one at a time.
It seems pretty basic. How do i learn how to code all this stuff. Where do i begin to learn how to get this all up and going from a completely new perspective?
I suggest you start with a kit. These usually include a book for the beginner with some examples to work through. Working through all the examples will give you a basic understanding of the electronics and coding involved. Once you've done that, you're not on your own, as this forum is here to help you.